


In which Murdoc becomes an almost-father and nothing bad ever happens to the Niccals

by BB_Miracle, SmolSlasherSoul



Category: Gorillaz, Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Murdoc Niccals, BAMF Sal Fisher, Bisexual Murdoc Niccals, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Everyone Is Alive, Everyone Is Gay, Found Family, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pansexual Sal Fisher, Parental Murdoc Niccals, Protective Murdoc Niccals, This is a crossover AU, murdoc didnt raise no bitch, murdoc is bisexual, not canon at all ngl we got green bitch adopting blue gremlin, sal is badass, sal is pansexual, so is murdoc, turquoise family, we kin the main characters and said hey fuck canon am i right?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-22 01:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30030726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BB_Miracle/pseuds/BB_Miracle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmolSlasherSoul/pseuds/SmolSlasherSoul
Summary: It was almost 10 pm when a knock came from his front door. Murdoc had been in the kitchen trying to get his toaster oven to work so he could make pizza or chicken nuggets or whatever he had in the freezer. With an annoyed huff, the dark-haired male grabbed the bat leaning next to the front entrance, ready to bash someone’s skull in if he needed to. But when he opened the front door, he wasn’t met with robbers, creepy fans, or anything else he was expecting.Instead, he was met with his childhood friend’s husband and their kid. The kid, who just happened to be wrapped up in bandages with a bright pink mask atop it. Murdoc stared at the two of them, very, very confused, and just a tad bit concerned.“... ello?”
Relationships: Murdoc Niccals & Sal Fisher, Murdoc Niccals/Stuart "2D" Pot, Sal Fisher/Travis Phelps
Kudos: 9





	1. ARRIVAL

**Author's Note:**

> so my murdoc kin saw slasher's (smolslashersoul) sal fisher kin and went: "that one. I'm adopting that one." 
> 
> so we made an au. 
> 
> disclaimer! heads up! they might be a bit OOC because they are our kins, have a different TL than the canon one, and this is an au!

It was almost 10 pm when a knock came from his front door. Murdoc had been in the kitchen trying to get his toaster oven to work so he could make pizza or chicken nuggets or whatever he had in the freezer. With an annoyed huff, the dark-haired male grabbed the bat leaning next to the front entrance, ready to bash someone’s skull in if he needed to. But when he opened the front door, he wasn’t met with robbers, creepy fans, or anything else he was expecting. 

Instead, he was met with his childhood friend’s husband and their kid. The kid, who just happened to be wrapped up in bandages with a bright pink mask atop it. Murdoc stared at the two of them, very, very confused, and just a tad bit concerned. 

“... ello?” 

Sal was confused, he thought he was going back home, but instead, his dad brought him to Uncle Murdoc’s house. He scratched at his bandages, looking up at his father, who murmured for him to stay in the living room. He walked to the couch, pushing himself onto it and pulling his knees to his chest, continuing to scratch at his new bandages. 

He wondered where his mother was, when was she going to be released? He hoped she would recognize him once she did, since he had to wear this mask now. The doctor called it a prosthetic, then he said a lot of confusing things. He heard the doctor say something about eyes, he could only see out of one right now, he wondered why. He took his time wondering, swinging his legs and looking up at the ceiling.

He waited there for a while, he didn’t know how long, but eventually his father came back, kneeling down and telling him he was staying with Uncle Murdoc for a while. He tilted his head in confusion.

“What about mom?”

He was met with silence, watching as his father got up and simply pat his head, walking to the door. He watched him leave, his head filled with questions, none of which answered. He got up from the couch, wondering where Uncle Murdoc was. At least that was a question he could answer himself.

The man in question appeared in the doorway a few moments later, the bat no longer at the ready. Instead, the dark-haired male was holding a rather large pile of blankets and a stack of movie DVDs. He placed the movies down on the coffee table before turning towards the young boy, trying to come up with the right words. Kids liked movies, and soft things, right?

“You.. you wanna watch a movie?” He asked, hoping it would distract the kid from whatever had happened to him. 

Henry had been pretty vague about the whole thing. A freak accident, the kid getting really hurt, and his mom not doing much better. Henry had told him he couldn’t handle the kid at the moment. Said that it was too much for him, with Diane dying in the hospital and a hurt kid. He was the first person he thought to come to, knowing that his wife would trust Murdoc with their kid. A bad decision really, he didn’t know how to be a responsible adult. 

But he’d be damned if he didn’t try. 

So here Murdoc was, unfolding one of the blankets and letting it rest gently around the kid. He carded through the movie options, holding up each one to the kid and waiting for some sort of reaction that would let him know which movie they should watch. 

Sal reached out to look at one of the DVD cases closer, his little hands holding onto it and taking a moment to read the back. He gives it back to Murdoc with a nod, showing his pick, his hands going back to scratching at the bandages at his jaw.

With the softest smile he could muster Murdoc took the DVD case from the young boy, going to kneel down in front of the tv and fiddle with the DVD player for a moment. It always got jammed. After the DVD was successfully inside of the DVD player Murdoc moved to sit back on the couch, picking up a few more blankets on the way. He patted the spot next to him, unfolding more of the blankets for the two of them as the movie loaded onto the screen. 

The kid held onto his blanket cape with one hand, walking to the spot next to Murdoc and climbing back onto the couch, plopping himself down like his uncle did. He pulled his knees to his chest, taking up a small amount of space, his eyes-- eye, his other was under bandages-- on the screen in front of him.

When Sal eventually sat down next to him, Murdoc draped another two blankets over the two of them. As the movie played in front of them his mind began to wander. Was he going to be able to take care of the kid? He knew Sal had already gone through a lot, and he didn’t want him to feel unsafe at all. But how did he do that? It’s not like he had a solid childhood to base Sal’s off of. Murdoc frowned a bit, the worries of the future swarming his mind. It was too late for this. Murdoc shoved it off to the side to think about it tomorrow, not in the mood to have an existential crisis. 

“Uncle Murdoc?” 

“Hm? What's up, kid?”

“Do you think mom will recognize me when she comes back? I chose her favorite color!”

Sal’s voice was muffled and raspy, like he struggled to talk, but did anyways. Whether that was because of his bandages or because of his injury, he didn’t know.

Murdoc stared down at the boy, a bit surprised by the question. Shit, right. The kid didn’t know. Murdoc paused for a moment, thinking over the best response, before nodding. 

“Yeah, yeah. I think she will kid. Even with the mask, I’m sure she’ll be able to recognize you.” 

That seemed to satisfy the boy, a smile in the single eye visible in the eyeholes of his prosthetic. He snuggled into the blankets, his attention back to the movie playing before him.

A small, genuine, smile spread across the older male’s face. Even if things weren’t the best at the moment, they’d be able to get through it. The kid was strong, and Murdoc was ready to do anything to make sure he got over this bump in the road. He turned his attention back to the tv, a content feeling washing over him as the night slowly moved on.


	2. ADOPTION

It was around three in the morning when Henry called, Sal having been living with Murdoc for almost a week now. Sal was fast asleep on the bed, Murdoc had been sleeping on the couch, and barely stirred when the annoying sound resonated through the house. Good. he needed some rest. Murdoc had been awake at the time, sitting in the kitchen with a glass of water, trying to come up with a few more lines of song lyrics. The sudden sound caught him off guard, but went to go answer it after recovering. 

“‘Ello?” He whispered into the phone, trying to be quiet so he didn’t wake up the kid. “‘Who's this?”

The muffled sound of crying was all he got in response for a few minutes, only confusing Murdoc even more. He repeated his last question again, this time with a lot more force. Finally a verbal response came. 

“It’s me, Henry. I- Murdoc, i can’t take care of the kid. Not after- not after what happened to Diane.” 

“Whaddya mean you can’t take care of ‘im- he’s your fucking son!”

“It’s not that simple, Murdoc, you know that- i wouldn’t-”

“Wouldn’t what? Be able to help him when he gets nightmares from that shit? When he gets upset? You’re a lame excuse of a person, you goddamn weasel.”

“That’s not what i said, you’re twisting my words!”

“You’re abandoning ‘im, that’s what you’re doing.”

“Look- i don’t- i don’t need to explain myself to you. He’s going into the foster care system. Alright? That’s why I called. To let- to let you know that-”

“No.”

“..no? Wh- what do you mean, no?”

“I mean no. He’s not going anywhere. The foster care system’s the worst fucking place to send a kid. He’s staying ‘ere.” 

“You- you can’t just do that-”

“Well why not? I’ve got a house. A solid job. I can provide for ‘im better than you could.” 

“The paperworks already been handed in and-”

“Cancel it. Tell ‘em no. The kid isn’t going anywhere.” 

And with that, he slammed the phone back onto the receiver, effectively hanging up on Henry. Murdoc just stood there for a moment, staring at the wall with a frown and his eyebrows furrowed. The decision to adopt Sal was something he had made right then and there, in the heat of the moment. Now that he actually had time to think over it, he didn’t regret a thing. The foster care system was the worst place to send an already traumatized kid. A small smile formed. 

He could do this. 

He could raise a kid.


	3. EYE SCREAM

The next few weeks were a blur. Sal got his bandages removed, he went to an appointment to get fitted for a glass eye, he went to therapy, and his therapist suggested getting an emotional support animal. It was a busy week for the kid, who was seemingly clueless to his father abandoning him. 

Sal was going to be receiving his first glass eye today, sitting in the passenger seat of Murdoc’s car, his legs swinging and looking out through the window. He was nervous but excited. He hoped Uncle Murdoc would like the eye color he picked out, despite the doctor trying to insist on getting as close to his normal eye color as possible.

Next to Sal, in the driver's seat, Murdoc hummed along to the radio, one hand on the steering wheel and the other hanging out the open window. The Smiths “This Charming Man” was playing, even with the somber lyrics it added a soft, light atmosphere in the car. He glanced over at the kid next to him, smiling to himself. 

“Yous excited, kiddo? A new eye!”

“Yeah!”

Sal was bouncing in his seat, a wide toothy grin under his prosthetic face. He had been doing better the past couple of days, coming out of his shell after the accident.

When they arrived at the doctor’s, Sal practically pulled Murdoc all the way, a bounce in his step despite the situation. Eventually Sal was called into the office, refusing to let Murdoc join him, saying it was a surprise. A couple of minutes passed, and Sal was back, running to Murdoc and hugging him, looking up at his uncle and showing him his new eye, which was a muted red color, rather than his natural blue.

“Look Uncle Murdoc!” He beamed. “We match!”

Murdoc was pleasantly surprised by the sudden hug, gently patting the young boy on the head a few times. His surprise only grew when Sal looked up at him with wide eyes, showing off his new, red, glass eye. The biggest smile spread across Murdoc’s face, and he crouched down for a moment to pick the kid up and give him another hug. God he loved this kid. 

“Wouldchu look at that! We do match!” 

Sal giggled, hugging his uncle tight. Eventually, they were both called to the office, the doctor briefing Murdoc on how to take care of the prosthetic and other things he needed to know before she sent them on their way. Sal held onto Murdoc’s hand on the way back to the car, a smile still on his face.

After Murdoc and Sal had climbed back into the car, Murdoc came up with a wonderful way to spend the rest of the day. He drove out of the parking lot, but instead of turning left to head home, he began driving into town, a small smile on his face. 

“How does some ice cream sound?”

Sal immediately lit up. “Ice cream!” He cheers, with the joy only a little kid could have. 

“Ice cream! You scream! We all scream for-” Sal inhaled, before belting out in a mini metal scream. “ICE CREAM!”

Murdoc began laughing as Sal screamed, a sense of pride washing over in him. “Hell yeah we do! Let’s go get some bloody ice cream!” He responded, grinning as they pulled into the supermarket parking lot. 

Sal hopped down from the car, holding Murdoc’s hand, pulling him to the supermarket, already thinking about what flavor of ice cream to get. 

After entering the store something caught Murdoc’s eye, another brilliant idea forming in his head. He gently tugged Sal over to where the shopping carts were, letting go of his hand for a moment to pull one of the carts out of its designated lines. He then crouched down to Sal’s level, lifting him up and placing him inside of the cart. Murdoc made sure Sal wasn’t going to topple out of the cart before he began pushing it down the aisles, searching for the dairy aisle. 

“Right, kid, the moment you see ice cream I want you to scream ‘ice cream’ at the top of your lungs.” Murdoc said, glancing down another aisle. “It’ll be bloody hilarious and we’ll get ice cream.”

“Got it.” He whispered all secret-like, a giggle in his voice. He got comfortable in the cart until they got to the freezers. As soon as he saw the ice cream, he inhaled before letting out in his best ‘metal growl’ voice. “ICE SCREEEEAAAM!”

Murdoc cackled, shoving the cart towards the ice cream freezers with a gleeful smile. He had seen some idiot a few feet away drop an entire jug of milk when Sal screamed, and it had to be one of the funniest things he had seen. The cart skidded to a stop outside of the ice cream freezer, making an unpleasant screeching noise as it did. 

Throwing open the freezer door, Murdoc glanced back at the kid in the shopping cart. “This is a very important decision,” Murdoc said, feigning seriousness. “... chocolate or vanilla.” 

“Chocolate.” Sal answered with the same amount of fake seriousness, a deadpan look on his face, or maybe that was just the prosthetic, but his eyes held a mock glare.

Murdoc stared back, a silence settling between the two. Eventually a grin cracked through the facade, making him shake his head with an eye roll. “Good fucking choice kid. This is why you’re my favorite kid.” Murdoc joked, grabbing a tub of the chocolate ice cream and handing it to Sal. He paused for a moment, before reaching back into the freezer to grab a box of ice cream sandwiches. Just in case they wanted more. 

Sal giggled, holding the tub of ice cream idly, not caring that it was cold. He was oblivious to the stares of strangers around him, reading the writing on the container.

Murdoc frowned at the people staring at the two of them, his frown steadily turning into a harsh glare as they continued staring. Most of them eventually looked away, especially when Murdoc scowled at them. He knew they looked like a strange pair. But that didn’t mean they were allowed to openly stare at them when they just wanted some ice cream. 

After paying for the ice cream, the two of them were finally able to escape the stares of others, back in the privacy of the car. 

“Hey, ‘ow about some tunes! I’m pretty sure I've got a few tapes in the glove box ‘front of yous!”

Sal reached out to the glove box, looking at the tapes Murdoc mentioned, wondering if any had his uncle playing. He looks through them one by one, before picking out Dragula, handing it to Murdoc.

Murdoc took the tape from the young boy, glancing at it for a moment before focusing back on the road. A grin formed as he pushed the tape into the tape player, fiddling with a few knobs and buttons until the song blasted through the speakers. 

“Rob Zombie! Fuck yeah!” Murdoc laughed, reaching over to pat Sal on the head a few times. “Yous got a great taste o’ music, kid!” 

It wasn’t much longer until they were pulling into the driveway of Murdoc’s single-story home, Dragula still blasting through the speakers. After fumbling with the key for a few minutes, the two of them stumbled into the house, heading straight for the kitchen in search of spoons. Fuck bowls. They’d eat straight from the tub of ice cream. 

Sal carried the box of ice cream sandwiches to the fridge, pulling open the freezer and standing on his tip toes as he pushed the box in. He grabs the tub of chocolate ice cream, walking to the living room and waiting for his uncle to get the spoons, swinging his legs.

After grabbing two spoons from the utensils drawer, Murdoc followed Sal into the living room, grabbing the remote on his way to the couch. He flopped down next to the kid and handed him a spoon, before beginning to click through some of the channels on TV. 

Sal reached behind his head to unbuckle his mask, pulling it off and gently placing it next to him. He shifts his position so he could both reach the ice cream and watch whatever show or movie Murdoc chooses. Murdoc has seen his face before, in his first week there when he had to change the bandages everyday, so he didn’t care if he saw it again. He scooped out some ice cream, shoving it in his mouth, a smile on his face.

There wasn’t much on tv, but eventually Murdoc settled on watching a rerun of Back To The Future. It was a decent movie. As he scooped a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth he thought about what the future had in store for the two of them. 

These thoughts always seemed to surface whenever he was watching a movie. Sal would eventually have to go to school, make friends, learn how to drive- yeah no, that last one wasn’t for a long time. He was going to be able to watch this kid grow up, into an actual adult. What an odd thought. The sense of pride from earlier today welled up inside of him again as he glanced over at the kid as he shoveled ice cream into his mouth. 

“Hey, kid.” Murdoc said, turning away from the movie for a moment. “Y’know i love you, right?”

“Mhm!” Sal smiled, a mess of chocolate around his scarred mouth. “I love you too Uncle Murdy!”

Yeah. They’d be okay.


	4. KIDS ARE MEAN

Murdoc watched as Sal stepped out of the car, slipping into his backpack as Murdoc turned off the car. He shoved the keys into his pocket before moving to pat the kid on the head a few times. It had taken him a little while to understand the paperwork for the school, so he hoped it at least provided some education. 

The two of them made their way into the school, stopping into the front office to finish sorting everything out. Murdoc saw the secretary raise an eyebrow when he walked in with Sal, obviously judging him. Maybe he shouldn’t have worn his black flag t-shirt when dropping off his kid. He raised an eyebrow in response, daring her to say something. Thankfully she dropped it, helping him finish with the paperwork before handing him a slip of paper with Sal’s teacher and homeroom. 

Murdoc crouched down so he was around the same height as Sal, an encouraging smile on his face. “You ‘ave a good day at school, alright bud? I can’t go any further with yous.” 

Sal nodded, looking emotionless to outsiders, but having nervousness in his eyes. He reached out and hugged Murdoc tightly.

“Alright.” He mumbled, letting go of his uncle.

Murdoc smiled softly, patting him on the head one last time before standing up again, watching as Sal began walking down the main hallway and towards his classroom. When Sal was around halfway down the hallway he turned around and waved one last time, before stepping into the classroom. Murdoc smiled to himself, hoping that everything was going to go well. 

Boy was he wrong.

_“What’s wrong with your face?”_

_“He’s probably really ugly under his mask.”_

_“Sally face! Sally face!”_

To say Sal came home in a bad mood was an understatement. He was silent on the car ride home, and once they got back to the apartment, he stayed in his room and kept his mask on, when he’d usually take it off as soon as they were home. 

While laying there, he recalled his day at school. The kids kept staring, the bigger kids would bump into him, during recess he was relentlessly questioned then made fun of (jokingly, he didn’t think the other kid intended it to be mean), he pulled a pillow to his face, smooshing it against his prosthetic. He was upset.

Murdoc stood in the kitchen, a frown beginning to form. Sal had been really quiet, barely reacting when he turned on the radio and flipped to their favorite station. Something must have happened at school. With a worried sigh, Murdoc set down his glass of water, walking down the hallway and gently knocking on Sal’s door. 

“Hey buddy, it’s me.. Can I come in?” He said softly, leaning against the door frame. 

Instead of words, Sal made a “Mmh.” noise instead, muffled by the pillow he had hiding his still masked face. He pushes himself up on his bed, dropping the pillow and going to the door, opening it by a crack. His real eye looked like it was holding back from crying, contrasting to his ever neutral glass eye.

Murdoc frowned ever so slightly when he saw Sal on the verge of tears, gently pushing the door open a bit more so he could kneel down in front of his nephew. Wordlessly he opened his arms out for a hug, inviting the young boy in if he needed physical comfort. 

Sal practically collapsed into Murdoc’s arms, his grip tight for an eight-year-old. He sniffled softly, pushing his face into Murdoc’s shoulder as he cried.

Murdoc wrapped his arms around the young boy without hesitation, hugging him tightly as he cried. The sound of Sal crying was ripping his heart apart, and an overwhelming amount of protectiveness washing over him as he gently rocked back and forth. Murdoc wanted to know who, or what, made his kid this goddamn upset. 

“Hey- hey, shhhh. You’re alright, kid, you’re okay.” 

After a moment, Sal pulled away, a hand going to the back of his mask, unbuckling the bottom strap. He holds up the mask only a small bit to wipe his tears, even if he was home where nobody could see his face.

Yeah, something was definitely up. Sal would wear the mask out in public, but he hardly ever wore it when he was around the house. Murdoc frowned a bit, leaning back to rest on his heels in front of Sal. “yous gonna tell me what’s wrong, or do you want some ice cream sammwhiches first?”

Sal simply nods at the ice cream sandwiches, following Murdoc to the kitchen. Once he had a sandwich in hand with a small bite taken out of it-- his prosthetic was still hanging on by the upper strap, but pushed to the side so he could eat--, he spoke. 

“People suck.”

Murdoc leaned against the counter, across from where Sal was sitting. When Sal finally spoke up he frowned, nodding in agreement. This world was a harsh one. Especially to the people who wouldn’t or couldn’t ‘fit in.’ Taking a sip of water, he thought over how to properly respond to a kid, before deciding to approach it like he would if he was talking to anyone else. No reason to baby the kid. 

“Damn right they do.” Murdoc replied, setting his cup back down. “But when they yell, when they’re mean to you? All you gotta do is stare them right in the eyes and tell them to fuck off. And if they don't? Well then you sock 'em. Right in the nose, kid.” 

Sal was listening intently, nodding. He took another bite out of his sandwich, chewing for a moment and swallowing it before he spoke up again.

“They called me Sally Face.” He mentioned. “...it kinda sounds like an artist's name.”

“Then you know what, kid?” Murdoc said, pointing at Sal with a determined look. “You take their mean names. Their insults. And you turn it around on them. Make it a cool music artist name. Make it your band name. Hell, make it your own name! If you take their insults and turn it into something new, it doesn’t hold any power over you.” 

Sal thought about it for a moment, before smiling. “Hell yeah.”

He reaches up and pulls off the rest of his prosthetic off of his head, looking at it for a moment before putting it down. He takes another bite out of his sandwich, his mood lightened.

A small smile emerged from the seriousness as Sal took off the prosthetic. What he said must’ve gotten through to him. After taking another sip of water, Murdoc spoke up again. “I can still talk to the school about the bullying though, if you’d like.”

Sal just nodded in response. 

\---

When Murdoc called the school later that night he hadn’t expected them to call him again for a few more days, after contacting the parents. Yet here he was, talking to the principal about Sal being sent to their office after punching a kid in the nose. As soon as he heard what was happening Murdoc hung up, throwing on his leather jacket and grabbing his keys, rushing to get to the school as quickly as possible. 

He got there in three minutes.

Murdoc didn’t even glance in the direction of the secretary as he walked right past her and into the principal’s office, throwing the door open with a bang. The principal jumped a bit, not expecting anyone to be slamming any doors open. They sort of just stared for a moment, not really processing that this was the man in charge of a kid. 

“Are- are you Mr. Niccals?” they asked, stuttering over their words just a bit. They continued after seeing Murdoc raise an eyebrow and nod in response. “Thank you for coming in such a short notice, Sal was sent down here after he punched another kid in the nose. I’d like t-”

“Yeahhhh, be quiet for a second, will yous?” Murdoc interrupted, turning towards Sal, who was sitting in one of the chairs off to the side. He crouched down, studying his kid, checking him over for any injuries. His glass eye was missing. Murdoc frowned for a moment, before noticing he was relatively unharmed. 

Looking Sal straight in the eye, Murdoc asked in all seriousness. “Did you win?” 

He looked back at Murdoc, before shaking his head.

“‘e still has my eye.” He murmured.

Murdoc nodded a bit, before rephrasing his question. “Did you make ‘im cry?”

“Mhm.” He nodded. “Then he and ‘is friends hit me back.”

Murdoc grimaced a bit, reaching over to ruffle Sal’s hair before standing up. He straightened out his jacket as he turned back towards the principal with a neutral expression. The dark haired male took a few strides across the room, stopping right in front of the principal’s desk. 

“Right then.” Murdoc said, not giving the principal another chance to speak as he cracked his knuckles. “You’re gonna tell the kids to give my kid ‘is eye back, stop bullyin’ ‘im, and leave ‘im the fuck alone. An’ if you don’t?” He leaned down a bit so he was eye-level with the principal, who looked pretty scared, and smiled. 

“I’m suing.”


	5. SHENANIGANRY

It was a few weeks later, and the small family of two were sitting out in the backyard, sprawled out on an old quilt Murdoc had dug out of his closet. It was a nice day out, so they were spending some time outside in the sun with some homemade lemonade and a few board and card games. 

They were currently playing go fish.

Murdoc noticed after one of Sal’s turns that his hair was getting a bit long, and hummed to catch the young boy’s attention. Once Sal looked up at him, Murdoc gestured towards his blue hair. “Yous wanna get a ‘aircut? It’s gettin’ a tad bit long.” 

Sal shook his head ‘no’, pushing bangs out of his face, which fell back onto his eyes as soon as he let go of it.

“I wanna grow it out, so I can look cool.” He shrugged. “Like Rob Zombie.”

Murdoc let out a laugh, smiling at the response. “Y’know what kid? It’ll look good on yous.” He reached over, ruffling the kid’s blue hair with a smile. “You’ll have to get used to taking care of long ‘air though.” 

“Is it hard?” Sal asked. “The girls at school have long ‘air, it doesn’t look difficult.”

“Yous just gotta wash it a lot more, ‘m pretty sure.” Murdoc replied, sorting through his cards. “Next time we go to the supermarket we’ll getchu the right ‘air stuff.” 

“Okie!” 

Sal beamed, a big smile on his face.

_“Uncle Murdoc’s the best.”_

\---

Murdoc was in the living room, fiddling around with his bass. It was a lazy sunday afternoon and there wasn’t too much going on. The band hadn’t seen each other in a handful of weeks, busy with the responsibility of being alive, and he was getting just a tad bit impatient. To distract himself from said impatience he had started playing the bass at home. He would never admit it outloud, but he kind of missed seeing the band. They’d gotten so busy all of the sudden, including him. 

Murdoc frowned a bit, plucking out the strings of his bass with his head bowed, hoping something would sound good. Unbeknownst to him, blue and red eyes peeked into the room. 

Sal’s been bored, to say the least. Gizmo was asleep on his desk and was laying on his super gear boy, so he couldn’t play video games (he wouldn’t dare wake that cat, he looked too peaceful!). He didn’t want to draw or scribble out album cover concepts or random symbols, plus, well, Gizmo was on his desk. He didn’t want to nap either, or play air guitar and air drums to various metal songs, so now he was here.

“Uncle Murdoc?”

The dark-haired male’s head snapped up, a bit startled by the sudden sound. He relaxed when he realized it was Sal, smiling at him from across the room. “Oh ‘ey kiddo!” He replied, stopping his fiddling with the bass guitar. “Whatchu up to?” 

“Bored.” He huffed, flopping onto the couch next to him. “Whatcha playin’?”

Sal was thirteen now, his once bright pink prosthetic switched out for a white one, with a pink patch in memory of his mother. He kept it with him everywhere now, even if he was just holding it, in case of any impromptu visits (The last time there was one, Sal had ran and hid in his room in a panic. It was his uncle’s bandmates.).

He plucked out a few more chords, humming a bit. “Nothin’ really. I’m just messin’ around with chords. Tryna see if anythin’ works for a new song.” Murdoc responded, eyebrows furrowing as he messed around a bit more, the low tone of the bass filling the empty space of the room. 

An idea hit him halfway through a note, making him sit up straighter with a smile. He turned as far he could towards Sal, lifting the strap over his head and letting the bass just sit there. “Yous wanna try playin’?”

“Sure.” Sal shrugged, gently taking the bass and pulling the strap over himself, feigning nonchalance when his eyes-- eye, technically-- were filled with awe.

Murdoc smiled, not believing the cool attitude for a second. He shifted a bit so he could fully face his nephew, reaching over to move Sal’s hands into the right positions. “You're gonna want your thumb up ‘ere, so you can balance the neck better, right?”

Sal nodded, shifting his grip on the bass. He thought back on every time he saw his uncle play it, a bubbly happy feeling in his chest now that he was being taught how.

A proud smile stretched across Murdoc’s face as he watched Sal follow his directions, a giddy feeling welling up inside of him. “Perfect!” He confirmed, reaching over to adjust the strap just a bit so it sat more comfortably on his shoulders. “Right, now let's talk ‘bout the chords.”

Sal beamed at the praise, positive reinforcement always got to him. He nodded, eager to learn more. Murdoc began pointing out the different strings and what notes they played, how to position your hand to correctly play them, and such. Sal was catching on quickly, picking it up a lot faster then he had. “Great! Now uh, let’s try a few notes, alright?” Murdoc asked, smiling proudly at his nephew. “Try… D minor, then A minor, then uh… G minor.”

He follows his lead, only having difficulty because Murdoc’s hands were bigger than his and because he wasn’t used to it just yet. It’s possible he caught on so quickly because of the amount of times he watched Murdoc play, or maybe he was born with it, since his mother was a master at the acoustic guitar. She would be so proud of him if she saw him now.

An overwhelmingly positive feeling crashed down over Murdoc as he watched the kid he raised messing around with his bass guitar, the biggest grin on his face. He had watched him grow from a wide-eyed young boy to what he was now. It was so weird to think about. Sal used to be small enough for him to pick up with ease, and now he could barely carry him across the house. Sal used to be a kid. 

“Yeah! You’ve got it!” Murdoc exclaimed, trying not to choke up as he thought about how far the two of them had come. “You’ll grow into it, don’tchu worry. We’ll getchu one that fits better. Mine’s a bit big ‘n clunky. Wasn’t really fit for either of us.”

Sal flashed an open toothed smile, wonky because of his facial scars, but a happy one nonetheless. He kept messing with the bass, playing out soft patterns of notes with no goal in mind. 

\---

_Sal was a child again, in that picnic on that day. He was with his mother, sitting in a field in the middle of nowhere. Where was dad? He wondered, looking to the forest and seeing some movement._

_“Mom! Mom! A doggy!” He beamed. “Can I pet the doggy?”_

_He turned around and suddenly bandages wrapped around his little head, with tufts of blue hair sticking out. He was in a hospital room. He hopped off of the bed he was on, walking out of the room. His dad was there, standing hunched over, eyes staring into space._

_“Dad?”_

_“You’re not my son. My son is not a murderer.”_

_And he was gone. He kept walking, watching the hallway shift to a room with drawers on the walls. He approached the bed at the end of the room, shrouded by darkness, holding onto the foot of the bed, going on his tippy toes and peering at the body laying there._

_“Mom?”_

_He watched his mother’s corpse rot away and melt into the floor, backing away from the bed and falling backwards, crawling away. He watches as the shadow of a dog ran out from under the bed, teeth bared at his face._

He screamed, pushing himself up. He breathes heavily, terrified and panicky as he looks around. He was back home.

It wasn’t the first time Sal had a nightmare, but it never got less terrifying to hear your kid scream. Murdoc was out of bed in seconds, stumbling towards Sal’s bedroom as fast as he could in his sleepy state. He didn’t even bother knocking, pushing open the bedroom door and padding over to the bed. 

Sal was curled up, grabbing at his hair and gripping tight, his breaths shaky, not noticing Murdoc entering his room until he was at his bed, looking up at him. His eye was filled with fear, only staring for a moment before he began reaching out for his uncle, needing support.

Murdoc kneeled down on the edge of the bed, wrapping his arms around the kid as soon as Sal reached out to him. He rocked back and forth gently, letting Sal lean on him as the two of them sat in the dark room. The dark haired male frowned a bit, wishing he could take the trauma burdening Sal from him. If it meant Sal wouldn’t have to endure the nightmares and pain, Murdoc would gladly take it from the kid. 

“You’re alright, kid.” Murdoc whispered into the dark room. “There’s nothin’ ‘ere to hurt yous.”

Sal felt like a child again, gripping onto Murdoc’s clothes and hiding his face against his chest, quietly sobbing. After a while, he calmed down, sniffling with his hands still holding onto his uncle, the grip weakening.

Murdoc hated it when Sal cried. The idea of something hurting his kid enough to make him shake like a leaf in a windstorm was utterly heartbreaking, because while he was able to get rid of anything and everything that had bothered him before, Murdoc couldn’t take away the trauma the kid had gone through. He could only hope the support he gave Sal was enough to help him. 

“It’s just yous and me, kid, you’re alright.” 

Sal slowly calmed down, his sobs lowering to sniffling and his hands falling to his lap so he was simply leaning on him. He was silent for a while, still shaking but not as much as he did when he woke up.

“Uncle Murdoc?”

“Hm?” 

“You’re not gonna leave me, right?”

“I’d never dream of it, kid.” Murdoc replied, not hesitating for a second. It pained him that Sal had to even ask the question, but he understood where the kid was coming from. His father had just dropped him off at his uncle’s house, not even bothering to explain what was happening, before just up and leaving. “I’m not goin’ anywhere.” 

“Promise?”

Murdoc nods, smiling softly. “Promise.”


End file.
